Since its debut in 2021, Yellowjackets has captivated audiences with its unique blend of psychological drama, survival horror, and mystery. However, the show is more than just a thriller; it’s an autopsy of trauma, power, and the primal instincts lurking beneath the surface of girlhood. Following a high school girls soccer team—ironically based in New Jersey—whose plane crashes into the wilderness, Yellowjackets recounts the girls’ desperate fight for survival, exploring the long half-life of violence and the way in which past horrors fester amongst the survivors. The first two seasons built a masterful web of tension, shifting between past and present to explore the psychological and supernatural elements that make the coming-of-age drama so compelling, peeling back the layers of the characters’ fractured psyches.

Now, Season Three arrives with great anticipation, premiering on Valentine’s Day—a fitting choice for a show that understands love as both a salve and a blade. Episodes are released every Friday on Paramount+ and every Sunday on Showtime, with the ten-episode season unfolding weekly until April 11. So far, the first few episodes have continued Yellowjackets’ tradition of slow-burning tension, though, at times, the fire feels too carefully tended.

Visually, the show remains as meticulous as ever. Its signature eerie atmosphere is enhanced by stellar costume design and makeup, capturing the slow erosion of the girls’ humanity through tattered layers and bloodstains that tell stories of their own. In the present day, wardrobe choices seem to serve as armor—tailored suits and unkempt hair signaling who is clinging to control and who has already let go. “One of the main things I’ve noticed while watching the show,” says senior Sarah Quadrini, “is that the makeup and outfit choices are really realistic. [The girls] trying to find anything they can, any item of clothing that’ll make them a bit warmer is what I can imagine it would be like in real life.” Yellowjackets has always understood that the body itself is an archive of suffering, and this season continues to make that suffering feel tactile.

If there is one flaw so far, it’s the pacing. The show has never been in a rush to reveal its hand, but Season Three occasionally drags its feet rather than truly building suspense. Some sequences stretch longer than needed, blunting their impact rather than sharpening it. Yet, the performances remain utterly magnetic. The cast delivers with a rawness that feels almost voyeuristic, as if the audience is peeking through a crack in the door at something they’re never meant to see.

So far, one major highlight of the season is its exploration of new relationships and connections that form across timelines, some tender and some volatile, all charged with the inevitability of anguish. These new perspectives add depth to both the past and present, offering fresh dynamics between characters. Whether these connections provide comfort, chaos, or something in between remains to be seen, but they undoubtedly add fresh layers of intrigue to the unfolding story, hinting at fractures yet to come.

With plenty of episodes left, Yellowjackets still has time to find its rhythm. If it can balance its slow-burn tendencies with the urgency that made its earlier seasons so gripping, it could once again sink its teeth into something wholly unforgettable. For now, the tension simmers, the performances hypnotize, and the wilderness continues to hold its secrets close.